Meteor Mysterious International SMS Charges

Berty

I come home today to open my first ever Meteor bill and find some mysterious International Text Messages sent to a 00447786205094.

I ask Meteor and so is the start of problem:

"You or your phone sent them so it's your issue" He wouldn't listen to reason that I did not send them and don't know the number and frankly I'm not going to entertain them suggesting I sent these messages. He even so far as to ask me "Did you leave your phone unattended at any time?" :eek:

Googled the phone number and turns out it is a massive worldwide issue and people cannot figure it out as their carriers are turning a blind eye and blaming Apple.

So I say to the guy "Google the number it's a massive issue" "Don't need to we got an e-mail this morning telling us there is an issue" "What, you didn't say that a second ago, what's going on here?"

Apprently Meteor don't know so say "Ring Apple"

I ring Apple who mysteriously say "Oh this is the first I have heard of it" "Bollocks to that I was thinking". I tell him to Google the number and the first result is on the Apple Discussion Forum.

Meteor basically said "Feck off and cry to Apple"
Apple have simply "escalated it" on my behalf.

So nowhere fast.

Now. My take on things from reading Google.

I have 4 text messages and 3 were sent on the 28th (day I got phone) and one on the 5th November.

They are all the times my phone was switched on and off for a few reasons so when my phone is restarted a mysterious text message gets sent to a UK Mobile number(Google results say a T-Mobile Number owned by Apple).

What the serious blue heck is this sh*t and why am I getting charged for it?

Like I say, Meteor who control the charges imposed on me, can't even tell me why they are charging me. This is insane. :mad:

lmkman

Ive had the same issue with Vodafone. I rang customer service but no luck. They told me complain when I get my Bill, which I did yesterday. Customer service are telling me send a copy of bill with disputed texts. They are actuall a Northern Irish mobile.

cookie1977

They're facetime registration texts:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2558450?start=0&tstart=0

Berty

cookie1977 wrote: »

They're facetime registration texts:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2558450?start=0&tstart=0

Yes first result from Google but if you read the OP it said I have had 4 charges which were all at times when the phone was switched off and on.

If it truly was a registration text then why am I getting charged 4 times?(each time) Surely you can only register once?

It happened to me on my 3GS with Vodafone a few weeks back although it was a 0 second phone call to a UK number. 3GS do not have Facetime but it was IOS 5

This cannot be Facetime if it occurs on 3GS as well.

Kensington

Yep, one text for Facetime activation and another for iMessage activation. If it doesn't receive a response to the activation message, you reset your phone, your turn facetime/iMessage off and then on again or you restore your phone from a previous backup, it will send another set of activation texts.

It does prompt you when you switch on the phone that your carrier may charge to activate Facetime and iMessage and gives you the option to Cancel.
Of course, if you don't choose to activate, while you won't be charged you also won't be able to avail of either the Facetime or iMessage facility.

O2 are the only Irish carrier who don't charge for the two activation SMS to the Apple number.

Berty

I don't mind being charged 12c to set up iMessage or Facetime if that were the case but again I have been charged each time my phone is switched on and off which is weird.

If there is a statue of charges from Meteor or any other carrier they should have advised customers not simply blame apple.

Remember Apple didn't charge me 12c, the network did. It is up to them to explain why they have charged me for something I have no knowledge of but they won't because they claim they don't know.

EDIT Forgot to mention: Apple tried to blame Twitter for this as well. I said I didn't install Twitter to which they responded, "No we did". Strange. Let's see who puts their hands up first and takes responsibility.

BrianD

Beer Baron wrote: »

I don't mind being charged 12c to set up iMessage or Facetime if that were the case but again I have been charged each time my phone is switched on and off which is weird.

If there is a statue of charges from Meteor or any other carrier they should have advised customers not simply blame apple.

Remember Apple didn't charge me 12c, the network did. It is up to them to explain why they have charged me for something I have no knowledge of but they won't because they claim they don't know.

EDIT Forgot to mention: Apple tried to blame Twitter for this as well. I said I didn't install Twitter to which they responded, "No we did". Strange. Let's see who puts their hands up first and takes responsibility.

The charge is nothing to do with Meteor - your phone generated the charge. If your manufacturer or OS requires some form of SMS registration then that can't be the fault of the operator. I'm sure somewhere somewhere in the small print of an Apple manual it details this.

Mind you they could be more helpful in telling you that it's your handset that's the issue. Perhaps the thread should be "Apple Mysterious SMS Charge"

Berty

BrianD wrote: »

the thread should be "Apple Mysterious SMS Charge"

Perhaps but then again Apple didn't charge me 12cent to do anything did they?

And until either of them can explain why Meteor charged me it must stand that Meteor charged me.

Aquos76

I've just checked through my calls and text history online there and I have about 8 or 9 texts to this 0044 number also. Since I've had the 4s I've had to get 3 sim swap out and each time a new sim is put into the phone I guess its reactivating imessage and facetime.

From looking at the times of these texts, they do coincide with these sim swap outs. Also, when I was having issues with the sending of text messages I was turning on and off imessage and I guess I was charges each time I turned it back on again. Atleast now that i am aware of these charges, I certainly wont be making a habit of turning these services off and on

Gumbo

Beer Baron wrote: »

Perhaps but then again Apple didn't charge me 12cent to do anything did they?

And until either of them can explain why Meteor charged me it must stand that Meteor charged me.

Meteor have to charge you, You/Your Phone used their network to send an international text messege. Its a well know thing on iPhones with Facetime/iMessege, nothing you can do bout it im afraid.

culabula

Beer Baron wrote: »

Perhaps but then again Apple didn't charge me 12cent to do anything did they?

And until either of them can explain why Meteor charged me it must stand that Meteor charged me.

The OS often advises "Your CARRIER may charge for FaceTime activation".

The whole of Europe is forced to to send to this British mobile number. A class action should be taken since one country in Europe is therefore exempt from these charges.

culabula

lmkman wrote: »

Ive had the same issue with Vodafone. I rang customer service but no luck. They told me complain when I get my Bill, which I did yesterday. Customer service are telling me send a copy of bill with disputed texts. They are actuall a Northern Irish mobile.

The texts are sent to a British mobile number as part of the activation process for FaceTime and sometimes, iMessage. It negates the whole point of owning a factory-unlocked iPhone since the charges are applied every time you sim-swap. It is also unfair since an Italian or a Greek or an Irishman may be charged while a Briton may not be if on an unlimited text bundle, for example.

I regret but there is no such thing as a "Northern Irish" mobile.

dub45

kceire wrote: »

Meteor have to charge you, You/Your Phone used their network to send an international text messege. Its a well know thing on iPhones with Facetime/iMessege, nothing you can do bout it im afraid.

When you say it is a well known thing on iphones what exactly do you mean? Who makes it "well known"?

And how would that in any way justify customers being charged without that charge being made explicit before it is actually incurred?

If a phone is sending an sms text then that should be made very clear to the user up front. Apple should make it clear to customers before a text is sent that it is an international text that is being sent. And companies supplying iphones should warn customers explicitly that charges are involved in registering for facetime and imessage.

ArklowHoop

just checked my bill there,and i've been charged three times for these activation texts!

culabula

dub45 wrote: »

When you say it is a well known thing on iphones what exactly do you mean? Who makes it "well known"?

And how would that in any way justify customers being charged without that charge being made explicit before it is actually incurred?

If a phone is sending an sms text then that should be made very clear to the user up front. Apple should make it clear to customers before a text is sent that it is an international text that is being sent. And companies supplying iphones should warn customers explicitly that charges are involved in registering for facetime and imessage.

The FaceTime activation SMS has been discussed on a global level since the inception of the system.

The first time you activate it the OS does advise of carrier-dependent charges. Any subsequent toggling on or off will trigger this advice.

Multiple instances of the charge are wrong, however, and refunds should be easy enough to recoup from the carrier. I was once charged for 37 instances sent back to back in my sleep. There was no issue when demanding a full refund for this.

guil

dub45 wrote: »

When you say it is a well known thing on iphones what exactly do you mean? Who makes it "well known"?

And how would that in any way justify customers being charged without that charge being made explicit before it is actually incurred?

If a phone is sending an sms text then that should be made very clear to the user up front. Apple should make it clear to customers before a text is sent that it is an international text that is being sent. And companies supplying iphones should warn customers explicitly that charges are involved in registering for facetime and imessage.

its clearly stated before you activate each service

Gumbo

dub45 wrote: »

When you say it is a well known thing on iphones what exactly do you mean? Who makes it "well known"?

its well know to any iPhone owners since facetime was introduced.

also, a simple search shows it - http://uk.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A7x9QbwElsdOETEA0adLBQx.?p=iphone%20international%20facetime%20text&fr2=sb-top&fr=yfp-t-710&rd=r1

dub45 wrote: »

And how would that in any way justify customers being charged without that charge being made explicit before it is actually incurred?

they are made aware, its in the T&C's of facetime. it also pops up on the phone before it sends the messege. The international SMS charge/price is then network dependant or price plan dependant on how much you pay for it.

Aquos76

Doesn't state anything about it been an international text message though, I just assumed that it would have been a standard SMS message and as I'm on an unlimited package that this wouldn't be an issue for me.

But as I've said earlier in this thread, due to the faulty 4s I was given in the first place which resulted in a few sim swaps, and the fact that eMobile made a balls of porting over my number twice, I have atleast 10 messages sent to this number.

jeckle

I think the problem is that while no-one would have an issue paying for the initial activation, but, because of the way that the other features can be toggled ON & OFF a flick of a finger, that they assume that it is just like toggling WiFi ON & OFF, aeroplane mode ON & OFF, hotspot, location services etc. - but this effort of being charged every time you take your battery or SIM out is a bit much.

If, for instance someone is having coverage problems, or just general phone problems, one of the first things they do is to take their SIM out - it's also usually one of the first things they would be told to do if they ring a tech support line. Apple themselves recommend to reposition the SIM during troubleshooting. For unresoved problems, people could be doing this any number of times.

If a phone or phone number is registered to or activated on a particular handset, I don't understand why it's necessary to register/activate it again & again, unless its a different SIM in a different handet. It's meant to be a free service, so once one verification has been done, surely that should be enough, & if o2 don't charge multiple times it musn't be anything that's specifically required by Apple.

paddyjoe183

I just got an new iphone and see this number has been charged to my account 9 times for 9 messages to this number.... why 9?

pjmw

Exactly a year on from the last post on this thread, I just got a text message from Vodafone advising me of my first bill since I got my first iPhone - and there's a mysterious 20.66 cent plus VAT charge for a text message that I did not knowingly send to the same old UK number, three days after I got the phone:
00447786205094 UK Text 0.2066

For many years, Vodafone have managed to put an envelope full of numerous bill pages all seemingly numbered `Page 1' together and snail-mail them to me. I resisted electronic billing for as long as I could, in the hope that some day all the Page 1s would be available in a single PDF file, but they wouldn't sell me an iPhone unless I agreed to electronic billing. There are still links to different pages of the bill all over the place, and I can't find any links to the Vodafone Mobile Broadband pages - not too surprising, as I have to log in using my iPhone number, not my Mobile Broadband number, to look for the links!

guil

pjmw wrote: »

Exactly a year on from the last post on this thread, I just got a text message from Vodafone advising me of my first bill since I got my first iPhone - and there's a mysterious 20.66 cent plus VAT charge for a text message that I did not knowingly send to the same old UK number, three days after I got the phone:
00447786205094 UK Text 0.2066

For many years, Vodafone have managed to put an envelope full of numerous bill pages all seemingly numbered `Page 1' together and snail-mail them to me. I resisted electronic billing for as long as I could, in the hope that some day all the Page 1s would be available in a single PDF file, but they wouldn't sell me an iPhone unless I agreed to electronic billing. There are still links to different pages of the bill all over the place, and I can't find any links to the Vodafone Mobile Broadband pages - not too surprising, as I have to log in using my iPhone number, not my Mobile Broadband number, to look for the links!

What's the point of all that?

culabula

jeckle wrote: »

I think the problem is that while no-one would have an issue paying for the initial activation, but, because of the way that the other features can be toggled ON & OFF a flick of a finger, that they assume that it is just like toggling WiFi ON & OFF, aeroplane mode ON & OFF, hotspot, location services etc. - but this effort of being charged every time you take your battery or SIM out is a bit much.

If, for instance someone is having coverage problems, or just general phone problems, one of the first things they do is to take their SIM out - it's also usually one of the first things they would be told to do if they ring a tech support line. Apple themselves recommend to reposition the SIM during troubleshooting. For unresoved problems, people could be doing this any number of times.

If a phone or phone number is registered to or activated on a particular handset, I don't understand why it's necessary to register/activate it again & again, unless its a different SIM in a different handet. It's meant to be a free service, so once one verification has been done, surely that should be enough, & if o2 don't charge multiple times it musn't be anything that's specifically required by Apple.

I think the most annoying thing about it is that the number chosen is a British number. Why should everyone else therefore, from Iceland to Italy, be forced to pay for this service, while our neighbours next door get a free ride, since most modern bundles there include an amount of free SMS?


All our networks should follow Three Ireland's lead and waive the charge.

culabula

guil wrote: »

What's the point of all that?

Beats me.

whiterebel

Its a mystery when anyone would open a year old thread to post it......